Two weeks ago, we carried out first article on the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Public Service. We were, however, interrupted last week to address the conflict that arose between the Minister of Finance and the Auditor General in relation to the contents of the latter’s report to the Parliament on the public accounts for 2015. We felt that the Minister acted inappropriately in the way he chose to publicly criticise the Auditor General, the holder of a constitutional position. In addition, most, if not all, of the Minister’s criticisms were unfounded and therefore lacked merit. One hopes that there would be no repeat of this unfortunate spectacle.
Today, we continue our discussion of the above-mentioned report by reviewing the contents of Chapter 2 – Contract Employment in the Public Service. This column had carried two articles on the extent to which contacted employees are employed in the Public Service, the second being on 10 October 2016. In that article, we had stated that the 2016 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure reflected a total of 6,056 contracted employees or 22%. Recognising that the Estimates include teachers and police officers who are not part of the Public Service, we calculated that some 27% of Public Servants reflected in the 2016 Estimates are contracted employees, compared with 20% in 2012. We considered this to be an unfortunate and disturbing development.
Traditional and “parallel’ Public Service
The Commission reported that among the issues brought to its attention that need to be addressed is the significant number of persons occupying positions in the Public Service who were not recruited through the established processes and procedures of the Public Service Commission. The extent of their presence at Ministries and Departments constitutes what many regard as a “parallel” Public Service in conflict with the official Public Service. On the other hand, there is the assertion that contracted employees are needed to address the skills deficit in the public bureaucracy.
According to the Commission’s understanding, contracted employees are recruited and appointed to established posts in the Public Service to serve for fixed and limited periods, at the end of which their contracts come to an end or are renewed. This is unlike the situation that obtains where persons are appointed to permanent positions in the traditional Public Service. Thus, there are two categories of employees: “those that exist and are authorised, and those that are creatures of convenience specifically functioning behind facades intended to conceal the questionable nature of both their status and appointment”.
The Commission expressed the view that conflicts between the two types of Public Servants tend to be based on processes and procedures by which each type is recruited and accede to their positions, especially at senior levels. The traditional Public Servant is at a position of advantage in view of his/her long association with the Public Service during which he/she would be exposed to different facets of working and functioning, values, rules and nuances of the Public Service. On the other hand, the contracted Public Servant is at times disparaged by references to the absence of these experience factors in their records. The Commission, however, made it clear that the possession of elements of knowledge and skills necessary to function effectively in given jobs is not always guaranteed by long service in a given position or organization. Discerned inadequacies and deficiencies could be corrected or attenuated by appropriate orientation and training programmes. In addition, personality and personal factors should always be taken into account in the recruitment and appointment processes. The Commission indicated that it is convinced that the weight of opinion is in favour of the traditional Public Servant.
Westminster model
The Commission referred to the Westminster model with its emphasis on such values as impartiality and neutrality of public servants in their relations with incumbent governments. However, in practice, this model proved difficult to adhere to in Guyana in view of the dominating political influences and the resultant reality that governments tend to prefer having in place “not neutral or neutered public servants but those who are among their enthusiastic and active supporters”. In such a scenario, differences between Government and Opposition tend to focus not so much on the contracted employees but on their numbers and the distorting effect on governance. Relevant rules and regulations are not obeyed, honoured or respected as they should, because ways and means are easily found to avoid or neutralize their influence, such as not fully constituting (or inordinate delays in doing so) agencies charged with oversight functions (such as various commissions) in relation to such bodies; appointing supporters and even relatives thereby making it difficult for them to execute their responsibility with objectivity, with the result that terms such as transparency and integrity are ineffectual. According to the Commission, “At base, it represents a marked failure to act consistently with the law which is often quite clear. The obvious conclusion is that it is not so much the law that is at fault but practices and divergent patterns of behavior not in keeping with the law and its spirit”.
Lack of involvement of the Public Service Commission
Based on the testimonies given and information made available, the Commission ascertained that contracted employees tend to be appointed outside of the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission (PSC), thereby avoiding the inputs of the latter in relation to such appointments. In such a situation, it is often possible for “the predetermined choices of the Executive to prevail because the role of the Commission may be one akin to that of a post office with the former automatically attaching its approval to the names presented to it”.
Rehiring of senior public servants
The Commission indicated that it was informed of cases where senior retired public servants were rehired on contract on “lucrative terms, much to the chagrin of serving traditional public servants still in service and in receipt of remuneration and benefits in no way close to those received by the newly reappointed on contract, with adverse effect on the morale and motivation of the former”. The Commission is of the view that where certain skills are needed which are not possessed by employees of the traditional Public Service, the concerned persons should be recruited by the PSC on contracts with specific terms. However, there must be clear rules to ensure that interested persons who possess the requisite qualifications are provided with fair chances to compete with others for appointment. In this regard, the Commission felt that such vacancies should be adequately advertised and filled in a professional manner.
A professionally driven Public Service
The Commission commented that in the quest to build a career and a professionally driven Public Service with the optimum levels of staff, it is necessary for all employment of Public Service positions to be done by the PSC or under its aegis. In addition, the optimum complement of suitably qualified staff for each Ministry or Department with the right organizational needs should be evaluated and determined through human resource and organizational reviews and audits. This would identify the number of suitably qualified, experienced and skilled persons for each position as well as “organizational structures and lacunae in human resources, thereby helping to eliminate arbitrary resort to the employment of contract employees”.
Recommendations
In view of its foregoing assessment regarding the extent of contracted employees in the Public Service, the Commission has made the following recommendations:
(a) All contracted employees on all grades holding Public Service positions be absorbed into the pensionable Public Service establishment, provided that they are suitably qualified to fill the established positions;
(b) Contracted employees/workers be restricted to high level professional skills not available in the Public Service, recruited and selected through open competition to obtain the best available candidates in the job market;
(c) No Public Servant who retires on attaining the age of 65 years be employed on contract in view of the proposed age of retirement on attaining the age of 65 years of age; and
(d) The optimum complement of suitably qualified staff for each ministry, office, division, department and unit, etc. with the right organizational structure be evaluated and determined by human resource and organizational audits.
